1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a keyword creation method and its apparatus, and is appropriately applied, for example, to a program retrieval system for retrieving the programs necessary for a viewer from many TV programs distributed via a broadcasting satellite.
2. Description of the Related Art
With a satellite broadcast system wherein TV programs are distributed via a broadcasting satellite to viewer, TV signals are digitalized and a vast number of programs are simultaneously distributed. In such a system, the number of programs selected by a viewer increases markedly.
Besides, with a system for providing various items of information from the host side to computer terminals via a telephone line or private line, a user on the terminal side selects the necessary item of information from a vast amount of information and requests it to the host side.
In an attempt to select such TV programs, items of information using a computer or the like, a viewer or user must retrieve a desired program or information item from a vast number of programs or a vast amount of information. In this case, a viewer or user selects a word or the like related to the genre of the program to be selected or the information item to be selected as the keyword and retrieves a desired program or information item by referring to it.
In a way of a viewer or user to directly input a keyword to a retrieval system, however, a viewer or user need to always learn and renew a knowledge concerning an up-to-date keyword or genre classification method of information repeatedly according as programs or information items are renewed and has difficulty in readily selecting a desired keyword.
Besides, there is a method comprising storing keywords such as genres or words selected by a viewer or user in the past as a selection history and using them as keywords at the time of future retrieval. At a first time of using a retrieval system according to this method, no history information is present and a viewer or user is compelled to directly select and input a keyword to the system and has such difficulty in readily selecting a keyword as the above-mentioned case.
In such a manner, there was a problem that the retrieval operation of a viewer or a user is complicated and it is difficult to readily select a required program or information item.